PSU Baseball drops four games on Florida trip

Mar 22, 2004

FORT MYERS, Fla. - The Plymouth State
University baseball team got off to a rough start on its spring
trip, playing four games in less than 24 hours Sunday night and
Monday morning in the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic, and dropping
all four contests.

The Panthers were handed 9-2 and 12-0 setbacks in a doubleheader
Sunday night against the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Monday
morning's twinbill wasn't much better, as PSU dropped 15-1 and
20-10 verdicts to Bethel College (Minn.).

Plymouth State is winless in four outings on the trip, while
Bethel is now 7-1. Wisconsin-Whitewater, which is ranked 26th in
the country this spring after finishing 35-9 last season and
advancing to the NCAA Regional finals, improved to 3-1.

UWW plated three runs in the fifth and sixth innings of the
opener to pull away from the Panthers. PSU senior Josh
Forest (Manchester, N.H./Trinity) allowed six runs in five
innings and took the loss. Junior Vinny Smith
(Alvord, Iowa) and sophomore C.J. Rousseau
(Merrimack, N.H.) contributed RBI hits for the Panthers in the
losing effort, and freshman Trevor Hall (New
Boston, N.H.) added a pair of hits.

Senior Mike Bradbury (Chatham, Mass.) lasted
only four innings for PSU in the nightcap against Wis.-Whitewater,
and was handed the loss. The offense was limited to four hits, two
by junior John Perkins (Nottingham, N.H.).

Bethel scored at least one run in each of the first five innings
of the first game against Plymouth State, knocking senior starter
Steve Libera (Cromwell, Conn.) out of the contest.
Senior Nick Libera (Cromwell, Conn.) accounted for
PSU's only run with a pair of singles and an RBI.

The Panther offense finally came alive in the second game
against Bethel, taking a 9-7 lead in the fourth inning. The Royals
came back with five runs in the fifth inning and then put the game
out of reach with eight runs in the seventh inning. Freshman
Kalen Kangas (Claremont, N.H.) didn't get past the
fifth inning and was handed the loss. Senior Jay
Morgan (Laconia, N.H.) led the Panther offense with a
two-run homer and junior Derek Guimond (Lewiston,
Maine) contributed a pair of hits, including a double, and three
RBI.

PSU has an off day on Tuesday, and will return to action
Wednesday with single games against Kalamazoo (Mich.) at 9:00 a.m.
and Otterbein (Ohio) at 12:00 p.m.